Aueszky's disease in pigs: ways of infection, symptoms and treatment, prevention

Aueszky's disease, or pseudo-rabies, is unfortunately a common disease in pigs and other livestock. Symptoms of the disease can manifest themselves in different ways, in some animals fever develops sharply, itching and redness appear on the body, in others paralysis and convulsions occur. The disease is ubiquitous, the disease is contagious, animals need to be vaccinated.

Disease prevalence

The deadly virus was first diagnosed, discovered and systematized in 1902 by the Hungarian scientist Aladar Aujeszki. In 1938, the disease was officially included in the register of diseases of domestic animals.In our country, the first outbreaks of the disease were recorded at the beginning of the 20th century, at that time farmers had no idea how to deal with a deadly disease, the virus caused damage to households and livestock complexes. Aujeszky's contagiousness allowed the virus to destroy cattle in a few weeks.

Causes of disease

The causative agent of Aujeszky's disease is the Hegresviridae virus. The main causes of livestock infection include:

• No vaccinations.
• Infection from sick or recovered animals.
• Intrauterine infection of young animals.
• Infection through contaminated water, food, bedding.
• Transmission of disease by rodents and birds.
• From the corpses of dead animals.

Note. An animal that has been ill with Aujeszky becomes a virus carrier and, upon contact with other individuals, is able to transmit the causative agent of the disease within 3 years after the disease.Pseudorabies viruses do not respond to antibiotics and survive in bedding and slurry for up to three months.

Symptoms and forms of Aujeszky

The incubation period of the disease is up to 20 days. During this period of time, the virus matures and settles in the body of an infected animal. The first signs of a beginning illness include:

• Animal anxiety.
• Decreased appetite, refusal to eat.
• Respiratory tract: runny nose, cough, excessive saliva, shortness of breath.

In the presence of immunity to the disease, animals can get pseudo-rabies in a latent form, but often pigs undergo a severe course of the disease, enter a coma: convulsions, head tilting, and fever begin. An infected pig loses its orientation in space, the animal starts vomiting, diarrhea with blood.The deadly virus celebrates its final victory at the moment of defeat of the host's central nervous system.

With the further development of the disease, the following signs of Aujeszky occur:

• Aggressiveness of animals towards humans.
• Vomiting, diarrhea with blood.
• Disordered gait, teeth grinding.
• Partial paralysis.
• Fever.
• Epileptic seizures.

As the disease progresses, the animals develop swelling of the brain and lungs. Veterinarians distinguish three forms of Aujeszky's disease in pigs:

• mixed;
• stupid;
• epileptic.

The epileptic form is especially difficult, the nervous system is affected in a sick animal, seizures begin: the animal squeals, throws back its head, the pupils dilate, then paralysis and death occur.The oglum-like form is most often found in young animals. In piglets, the shape of the skull is bent, the animal cannot walk normally, the gait is noticeably disturbed, then the consequences from the gastrointestinal tract occur: vomiting, diarrhea with blood.

Mixed form includes the defeat of all systems in the body. The animal experiences sharp deviations in well-being, vomiting, diarrhea, cough, purulent flow from the eyes and nose, fever and convulsions. Piglets under the age of 1 month die in 99% of cases. If the fetuses are infected in utero, the sows may miscarry or stillbirth, and the fetuses may be partially mummified.

Diagnostic rules

Determine the presence of the virus in animals is possible only in the laboratory. Blood is taken from infected individuals for examination, and pieces of internal organs, lymph nodes, the brain and spinal cord are taken from the dead, virological and serological studies are carried out.

The placenta is taken from aborted sows for research. In the study, it is important to take into account the full clinic of the disease, to highlight the periods of the most acute course of the disease. It should be remembered that a clear sign of the disease in cattle and other animals is itching and scratching of the skin over the body. For pigs, this symptom is not typical, the virus affects the respiratory system in the first place, and most often passes in the form of pneumonia or flu, which often violates the correct diagnosis of the disease.

How to treat Auescu in pigs?

Despite the severity of the disease, it is still possible to save infected animals, while there are no specific medicines against Aujeszky. Veterinarians identify several treatment regimens for the deadly disease and ways to alleviate the condition of animals, but the proven cure for pseudorabies is to vaccinate and immunize pigs on the farm before outbreaks occur.

Pharmacy products

To date, there is no drug against Aujeszky, antibiotics in the treatment of the false rabies virus in piglets are powerless even in combination with convalescent sera. Positive results have been recorded in the treatment of pigs with hyperimmune sera in combination with gamma globulin.

VGNKI is considered the officially recognized vaccine against Aujeszky, in farm complexes where cases of Aujeszky infection have been recorded, piglets begin to be vaccinated from two days of age. In addition to the dry VGNKI vaccine, Porcilis and other inactivated drugs are often used.

Folk recipes

There are no popular ways to cure a deadly virus. To maintain the immunity of animals, it is important to create a balanced diet for pigs, taking into account the breed and conditions of keeping; in the winter-spring period, it is important to add vitamin premixes as a food supplement.

It should also be remembered that after the illness, the animal remains a carrier of the virus. In farms where the death of animals and cases of disease have been recorded, quarantine must be introduced.

Prevention measures

Prophylactic measures against disease include:

• Regular disinfection of premises.
• Quarantine for recovered animals.
• Vaccination.
• Immunization.
• Prophylactic examinations of animals by veterinary services.

Timely vaccinations, high-quality pigsty care, a properly formulated diet for piglets - the goal and task of the farmer, the daily growth of young animals, the he alth and productivity of animals will depend on the quality of the feed.

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